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Aspendos or Aspendus ( Pamphylian: ΕΣΤϜΕΔΥΣ;
Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...
: Ἄσπενδος) was an
ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...
Greco-Roman city in
Antalya province Antalya Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. It is located on the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taur ...
of
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. The site is located 40 km east of the modern city of
Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...
. It was situated on the
Eurymedon River Eurymedon may refer to: Historical figures *Eurymedon (strategos) (died 413 BC), one of the Athenian generals (strategoi) during the Peloponnesian War *Eurymedon of Myrrhinus, married Plato's sister, Potone; he was the father of Speusippus *Eurym ...
about 16 km inland from the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
; it shared a border with, and was hostile to, the ancient city of Side.


History

The wide range of its coinage throughout the ancient world indicates that, in the 5th century BC, Aspendos had become the most important city in Pamphylia. At that time, according to
Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...
, the Eurymedon River was navigable as far as Aspendos, and the city derived great wealth from a trade in salt, oil and wool. Aspendos did not play an important role in antiquity as a political force. Its political history during the colonisation period corresponded to the currents of the
Pamphylia Pamphylia (; , ''Pamphylía'' ) was a region in the south of Anatolia, Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean to Mount Taurus (all in modern-day Antalya province, Turkey). It was bounded on the ...
n region. Within this trend, after the colonial period, it remained for a time under Lycian hegemony. In 546 BC, it came under
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
n domination. The fact that the city continued to mint coins in its own name, however, indicates that it had a great deal of freedom even under the Persians. Circa 465 BC,
Cimon Cimon or Kimon (; – 450BC) was an Athenian '' strategos'' (general and admiral) and politician. He was the son of Miltiades, also an Athenian ''strategos''. Cimon rose to prominence for his bravery fighting in the naval Battle of Salamis ...
led an Athenian navy against a Persian navy in the Battle of the Eurymedon, and destroyed it. Aspendos then became a member of the
Delian League The Delian League was a confederacy of Polis, Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, founded in 478 BC under the leadership (hegemony) of Classical Athens, Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Achaemenid Empire, Persian ...
. The Persians captured the city again in 411 BC and used it as a base. In 389 BC, Thrasybulus of Athens, in an effort to regain some of the prestige that city had lost in the Peloponnesian Wars, anchored off the coast of Aspendos in an effort to secure its surrender. Hoping to avoid a new war, the people of Aspendos collected money among themselves and gave it to the commander, entreating him to retreat without causing any damage. Even though he took the money, he had his men trample all the crops in the fields. Enraged, the Aspendians stabbed and killed Thrasybulus in his tent. When
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
marched into Aspendos in 333 BC after capturing Perge, the citizens sent envoys asking him not to garrison soldiers there. He agreed, provided he would be given the taxes and horses that they had formerly paid as tribute to the Persian king. After reaching this agreement Alexander went to Side, leaving a garrison there on the city's surrender. Going back through Sillyon, he learned that the Aspendians had failed to ratify the agreement their envoys had proposed and were preparing to defend themselves. Alexander marched to the city immediately. When they saw Alexander returning with his troops, the Aspendians, who had retreated to their
Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...
, again sent envoys to sue for peace. This time, however, they had to agree to very harsh terms; a Macedonian garrison would remain in the city and 100 gold talents as well as 4,000 horses would be given in tax annually. In 190 BC, the city surrendered to the Romans, and the corrupt magistrate
Verres Gaius Verres ( 114 – 43 BC) was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. His extortion of local farmers and plundering of temples led to his prosecution by Cicero, whose accusations were so devastating that his defence advo ...
later pillaged its art treasures. It was ranked by Philostratus the third city of Pamphylia, and in
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
times seems to have been known as Primopolis. Toward the end of the Roman period the city began a decline that continued throughout Byzantine times, although in medieval times it was evidently still a strong place.
Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; , ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving book ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek ph ...
writes that there was a native of Aspendos called Demetrius, who was a pupil of Apollonius of Soli. In addition, he mentions Diodorus of Aspendus.


Greek and Roman structures

Aspendos is known for having the best-preserved theatre of antiquity, the Roman Theatre of Aspendos. With a diameter of 96 metres (315 ft), it provided seating for 7,000. Even though, the recent Aspendus Culture and Film Festival has shown that it can hold over 20,000. It was built in 155 by the Greek architect Zenon, a native of the city. It was periodically repaired by the Seljuqs, who used it as a
caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...
, and in the 13th century the stage building was converted into a palace by the Seljuqs of Rum. As was usual to minimise construction complexity and cost, part of the theatre was built against the hill where the
Citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...
(
Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...
) stood, while the remainder was built on vaulted arches. The high stage, whose supporting columns are still in place, served to seemingly isolate the audience from the rest of the world. The '' scaenae frons'', or backdrop, has remained intact. The 8.1 metre (27 ft) sloping reflective wooden ceiling over the stage has been lost over time. Post holes for 58 masts are found in the upper level of the theatre. These masts supported a ''
velarium A ("curtain") was a type of awning used in Ancient Rome, Roman times. It stretched over the whole of the , the seating area in Amphitheatre, amphitheaters, to protect spectators from the sun. Retractable awnings were relatively common through ...
'' or awning that could be pulled over the audience to provide shade. The diameter of the orchestra is 23.87 meters and the height of the columnatio (stage backdrop) was 15.7 meters. The unique 19 km-long Roman aqueduct is possibly the most important monument, since the last 2 km of the conduit is a well-preserved inverted siphon, rather than an open channel, which made this aqueduct famous. The siphon allowed shorter arches to be constructed at the expense of finding a way to contain the water pressure in the siphon in an era when large diameter piping was difficult to seal. The siphon was split into three bridge sections 600, 900 and 150 m long, separated by 5.5 m square two towers where the aqueduct bends and where the water ascended and descended and which are today still 30 m high. The siphon was built on arches to cross the marshy valley between the hills and the town. The central section consisted of 46 arches up to 15 m high, 29 of which are still standing. The siphon was 40 m deep between the towers leading to a pressure of 400kPa (4bar) in the pipes and delivered about 5600 m3 per day. The pipes were carved blocks of limestone carefully fitted together to ensure a good seal using a mortar of lime and olive oil which expands when wet. It was built between the middle of the 2nd and end of the 3rd century. An inscription states Tiberius Claudius Italicus spent 2 million denarii to build an aqueduct here. Nearby stand the remains of a stadium, baths,
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...
,
agora The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...
and nymphaeum. The Roman Eurymedon Bridge, reconstructed in the 13th century, is also in the vicinity.


Coinage

Aspendos was one of the earliest cities to mint coins. It began issuing coinage around 500 BC, first
stater The stater (; ) was an ancient coin used in various regions of Greece. The term is also used for similar coins, imitating Greek staters, minted elsewhere in ancient Europe. History The stater, as a Greek silver currency, first as ingots, and ...
s and later
drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...
s; "the slinger on the obverse represents the soldiery for which Aspendus was famous in antiquity," the reverse frequently depicts a triskelion. The legend appears on early coins as the abbreviation ΕΣ or ΕΣΤϜΕ; later coinage has ΕΣΤϜΕΔΙΙΥΣ, the adjective from the city's local (Pamphylian) name Estwedus. The city's
numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...
history extends from archaic Greek to late Roman times.


Bishopric

The Christian
bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
of Aspendus was a
suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...
of the
metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...
of Side, the capital of the
Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
of Pamphylia Prima, to which Aspendus belonged. Of its bishops, the names of four are recorded in extant documents: Domnus was at the
First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ec ...
in 325, Tribonianus at the Council of Ephesus in 431, Timotheus at the 448 synod held by Flavian of Constantinople, which condemned
Eutyches Eutyches (; c. 375–454) or Eutyches of Constantinople
, and at the Robber Council of Ephesus held the same year, and Leo at the
Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics and others. ...
in 787. No longer a residential bishopric, Aspendus is today listed by the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
as a
titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...
.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 840


Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival

The theatre hosts the annual Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival organized by Turkish State Opera and Ballet since 1994, with international participation of opera and ballet companies and an audience of about 10,000.
Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida (, ; ), was an Italian naturalized French singer and actress. Leading an international career, Dalida has sold over 140 million records worldwide. Some ...
held her last concert there on 28 April 1987.


Gallery

File:Aspendos Market Hall 7349.jpg, Aspendos Agora and Market Hall File:Aspendos Ornamental Gate 4726.jpg, The Ornamental Gate File:Aspendos Aqueduct 3313.jpg, Roman aqueduct of Aspendos File:Aspendos Basilica Antalya Turkey.jpg, The Basilica File:Aspendos Eurymedon Bridge 4575.jpg, The Eurymedon Bridge File:Aspendos Nymphaeum 4707.jpg, The Nymphaeum File:Aspendos Temple 4658.jpg, Aspendos Temple


References


External links


History of AspendosMaps of AspendosPlan of the Aspendos Antic Theater
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080312235846/http://www.livius.org/a/turkey/aspendus/aspendus01.html Livius.org: Aspendusbr>Aspendos html5/full screen panoramas taken December, 2012Over 350 pictures from several visits
{{Authority control Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Archaeological sites in Antalya Province Catholic titular sees in Asia Former populated places in Turkey Geography of Antalya Province Greek colonies in Anatolia Members of the Delian League Populated places in ancient Pamphylia World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey Serik District